


Hello Again

by Ace_Strider



Category: iZombie (TV)
Genre: Blaine is a Dick, Emotionally Repressed, Grumpy Old Liv, Implied Relationships, M/M, Past Relationship(s), Scene Rewrite, i still suck at tags, s2e1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2019-11-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:13:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21585925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ace_Strider/pseuds/Ace_Strider
Summary: The first time we meet Don E, from Don E and Blaine's perspectives if they had almost had a relationship.
Relationships: Blaine DeBeers/Don E.
Kudos: 29





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this before season four. Posting to encourage myself to write more.  
> First chapter is Don E's perspective and the second is Blaine's.

He knew who it was by the knock. It’d been a long time, almost two years in fact, but it was one of those things you just can’t forget, no matter how hard you try. Just like you can’t forget what color they preferred kitchens to be, their favorite vintage, or the exact song that was playing the night they told you all about their dreams for the future. Don E remembered all of that about Blaine and more.

He did not move to answer the door.

“Open up!” Blaine called through the door. It was a familiar order, not all the way demanding because, even now, he probably didn’t think he’d needed to be. Back in the day, Don would have eagerly opened the door for him, letting him into his mother’s home without a second thought. “I’m here on business.” Yeah, because what else would he be there for? Not to see Don E. Not to see Scott either, obviously. Scott wouldn’t have been there anyways, he hadn’t been back to their parent’s house since they’d kicked him out. But Don had moved back in almost the day his brother was admitted to the loony bin, unable to handle the crushing silence (and loneliness) that had settled around him.

But he wasn’t going to think about that. He wasn’t going to think at all and he certainly wasn’t going to stick around to hear whatever the hell it was Blaine wanted. Scott hadn’t believed him when he said it, but Blaine was nothing but trouble. Nothing good ever came from being around him. So he grabbed the mug of coffee he’d just sat down and started walking back towards the stairs. Blaine could talk to an uncaring door and an empty room.

Of course, he underestimated Blaine again and his creepy ninja hearing. He knew the door was thin but come on, since when could Blaine hear that well? “I can hear you moving around in there.” And what the fuck with his voice, lifted up like he was teasing him. He’d used that same voice on the mornings Don E really hadn’t wanted to get up, standing on the other side of his bedroom door with Scott trying to get him to come unlock it. “I was sorry to hear about your brother.”

Don E slammed the mug down onto the nearest table, striding halfway to the door before stuttering to a stop. He wanted to scream, wanted to yell, wanted to rip the door off its hinges and strangle Blaine. But he still wasn’t ready to see that asshole. He was still fucking afraid.

“I wanted to be at the funeral but, you know. Things came up.” Some of the energy left Blaine’s voice but not enough. Never enough for what Don E had lost. Fuck you Blaine. Fuck you and fuck everything else. Fuck the world. Fuck everything that wasn’t his mug of fucking coffee and his fucking bed. “Look I need to talk to you about the night of the boat party.” Don’s heart stuttered in his chest, his breathing going suddenly short. The boat party. The fucking boat party that had turned his brother into a raving lunatic? The party that had ripped them apart again and led Scott to being fucking murdered? Blaine wanted to talk about that? “Someone cut the Utopium that night.” What? Why in the hell would Blaine care about that? He’d dropped out of that business, as far as Don E had heard. Disappeared the night of the party and just never came back. Don would have assumed he was dead if he thought anything could actually kill Blaine. “It was you, right? You and your twin?” No. No, they hadn’t wanted to. Gabriel had volunteered. Don E creeped towards the door a little more, curious. But he didn’t say anything. Blaine wasn’t going to get that information for free. “There’s a payday. A big one. For whoever can show me how it was done.”

And there were the magic words. Money. Lots of it and that was a promise; Blaine never lied about money. Or he rarely did at least, never one to speak ill of the one thing he truly cared about without good cause. And he even sounded a little pleading. Don E had to fight to keep a smug smile off his face, something curling happily in his chest at hearing Blaine asking for help. And then he went on about huffing and puffing, getting a little mad. It was the closest he’d ever heard the man get to saying, “Please don’t make me beg.”

He had to open the door then, didn’t he? Money had been one of his and Blaine’s shared interests, the only other thing he’d cared about besides Scott. And, technically, their mom too but he wasn’t going to think about her right now. He had business to deal with. And yet, the second he saw Blaine’s face he faltered. He looked around Blaine, as if knowing whether there was anyone else there was going to change anything, to buy himself time while Blaine said his name like he was suddenly a big deal. When Don E finally looked at him, his expression was softer than Don had expected it to be. “Long time, brother.” And that was the closest to an apology he was ever going to get.

“I didn’t cut it.” He admitted and, for a moment, he thought he was going to end it at that. He really considered just stopping there and slamming the door in Blaine’s face. But he continued on anyways, pulling up every ounce of acting skill he’d ever had to make himself seem at least level. “But I know who did. Is there some kind of finder’s fee?” He asked with the barest hint of a smile.

Blaine laughed like they’d never been apart.


	2. Chapter 2

Out of all the places he’d never expected to see again after the boat party, this house was definitely near the top of the list. It hadn’t been an overly common place for him to visit to begin with but after that night…Who was he kidding, it’d been before that. Not long before that but still. He’d never thought he’d be back here. But this was where Don E was. Blaine would have known that even without going to Scott E’s apartment and seeing absolutely no trace of his other former running buddy.

And that was the descriptor he was going to go with. Former running buddy.

The house was far out of his way and even further from the places he used to frequent. Even this rundown neighborhood had been just a little too rundown for him most days. But he’d come around with Don E a few times and had actually shown up voluntarily once or twice when the twins had been fighting. So he knew where the spare key was and which windows were left unlocked just in case the spare key disappeared. He could have just gone in but, under these circumstances, he didn’t think it’d be a good idea. Breaking in and scaring his old friend left a sick feeling in his stomach he was trying hard to ignore. But it was there and pushing up into his throat when he knocked on the front door.

“Open up!” Well, fuck. That wasn’t the best way to start this, acting like the old days. If anything, he was pretty sure that’d just piss Don E off. “I’m here on business.” He quickly added, though he didn’t change his tone. Too late to back out now, right? There was some shuffling on the other side of the door and he even heard a mug being picked up. He knew it had to be Don E, Missus Eberhard would never change the night she went out with the girls. And apparently Don E was going to be extremely petty because he heard him walking away. “I can hear you moving around in there!” He called out, trying not to laugh over the oh so familiar childish behavior. How many times had he stood outside Don’s door trying to get him to unlock it and stop pouting? Or at least wake up because they had a job in a few hours Don E!

The sick feeling flared and he choked a little on it. They’d been so great together, the three of them, but him and Don E had really synced up. He’d worked just as well with Scott but there’d just been something different about Don E. He’d been different. Which had eventually lead to them not speaking to each other, not even seeing each other. Blaine still wasn’t even sure what had happened, what exactly had been going on that night, but they’d both known that something had been off. That something could have happened. And Blaine had been the one to run out, saying things he didn’t even mean. They’d been cruel, he remembered that much, meant to push the other man away and make sure that whatever had been happening never happened again. They’d stayed away from each other since then, though Blaine had still spent time with Scott.

He sighed, leaning heavily against the door. “I was sorry to hear about your brother.” He said as genuinely as he could manage. He heard the mug slam down onto wood and angry strides towards the door that stopped far quicker than he expected.

Maybe he’d been hoping Don E would just accept what he’d done, let the thing die and come back to him with only a hint of change in their dynamic. Maybe he’d been an absolute idiot.

“I wanted to be at the funeral but, you know. Things came up.” Nothing had come up. Absolutely nothing. He just hadn’t gone. Hadn’t thought it was appropriate, something he usually didn’t care about. But that really would have been cruel, showing up again at his brother’s funeral. Maybe Don E would understand that. And maybe he would try to rip his head off the second the door was open. God, he really needed to get to the point. “Look I need to talk to you about the night of the boat party. Someone cut the Utopium that night. It was you, right? You and your twin?” At least, that had been what he was told. But Scott had never been afraid to lie to him. “There’s a payday. A big one. For whoever can show me how it was done.” That had to work. It had to. Don E and him had shared a love for money, there was no way the other man wouldn’t take the bait. Even if it meant working with someone he probably hated now. Blaine waited and ducked his head when he came to a realization, angling his mouth closer to the door. “Don’t make me huff and puff, man.” He ordered in a lower voice than before, knowing Don E would understand what he was really saying.

It only took a few seconds after that for the door to open. He straightened quickly, stiffening just in case his paranoia was right and Don E chose to attack him. But Don E didn’t look like he could do any sort of damage in his state. His stubble was almost bad enough to be called a beard, his eyes were puffed up with a thousand purple bags underneath, and his skin was washed out. But he wasn’t sweaty and his movements weren’t overly deliberate, he wasn’t trying to look normal. Good, he wasn’t coming down off of anything. Blaine had been worried about that, Don tended to use just a little more than he needed to when he was upset.

Don E looked around and behind him, a very clear sign that he didn’t trust Blaine anymore. Blaine managed not to wince but he knew he didn’t keep all he was feeling off his face. He struggled to find something to say, maybe apologize, but what came out was, “Long time, brother.” Well, at least he was admitting it. That things were different, that things were going to be different. He was going to get what he’d wanted now, after he’d said all those things to Don E, he could feel it.

Don E didn’t acknowledge what he’d said, just got straight to the point. “I didn’t cut it.” Blaine straightened his back, face hardening into a neutral mask. But Don E continued. “But I know who did. Is there some kind of finder’s fee?” He asked, trying to smile the whole time.

It startled a laugh out of Blaine and he grinned wildly down at his former friend. He was never going to admit it, to himself or Don E, but him joking around after two seconds of them being reunited meant a lot to him.


End file.
